Ahly coach Fathi Mabrouk (Photo: Al-Ahram)
Ahly coach Fathi Mabrouk has hailed Tuesday's 2-1 league win over Petrojet, insisting that it is a morale boost ahead of the coming African Confederation Cup test against Tunisia's Esperance.
League titleholders Ahly lie second in the Egyptian league table with 68 points with only five matches left. The Reds are 9 points behind rivals and leaders Zamalek.
"We won against a big team that have a lot of talented players. The victory is important ahead of the Esperance test," Mabrouk said in the press conference after the match.
"I am happy with the result as we achieved our main target from the match. We deserved to win especially as we managed to restore our balance and score twice after receiving an early goal," the coach added.
Next Sunday, Ahly will host Tunisian side Esperance in their African Confederation Cup group stage kick-off.
"We will do our best to prepare well for the Esperance match. The return of our injured players will also be a key factor to get a positive result," Mabrouk said.
Titleholders Ahly are competing in Group A with Stade Malien of Mali and Tunisian sides Esperance and Etoile Sahel.
They qualified for the group stage by defeating Tunisian Club Africain earlier in June.
Their Egyptian rivals Zamalek are playing in Group B, competing with Tunisian Sfaxien, South Africa's Orlando Pirates and AC Leopards of DR Congo.
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